Reach Partners with Mercedes-Benz: Training community workers in using Sport for Development

Each corner of the world carries its own flavor, each place and space holds its own challenges. But in every city and country we find youth who have not been given the same advantages as their counterparts born into wealthier families. When speaking about kids in his neighborhood of Taiwan, participant Shih-Cheng, Liu says, "Many parents need to work in the service industry, which means they don't get off work until 9 or 10PM. While other kids get to take swimming lessons or learn other extra-curricular skills or get to go out and have fun with their parents, teenagers here don't have the same opportunities. Their families' low income puts them at a disadvantage that leads to... low self esteem."

In August 2017, in partnership with the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and Mercedes-Benz, Taiwan, Reach and Changobox delivered two training sessions to 60 basketball coaches and community workers from Taipei and Taichung. The first training was for the Taipower women's professional basketball team and it was a follow up training and evaluation. Over the past 10 months, coaches and social workers were working together to deliver basketball for development through community activities across Taiwan. The training was focused on reflecting on the work done and evaluating the progress made.

​The training concluded with a 3x3 tournament hosted by participants and involving celebrities from around Taiwan. Seeing young children who come from challenging backgrounds interact with trained coaches and enjoying the simple game of basketball was inspiring.

The second training in Taichung involved the men’s basketball team from the University of Taichung and social workers. The training enabled participants to develop skills in creating community sports projects that provide opportunities to youth to develop confidence, leadership and life skills that influence their successes in other aspect of their lives. One of the highlights of training were two social workers who came to the training because their son had attended our first training. Noticing the improvement in their son’s self esteem, confidence and general demeanor, they decided to take part in the training. "We were very awed by the improvement we observed in our son as a result of this program. He has not been this confident in years."

Reach moves beyond the historical use of sport for leisure or as an elite pursuit to use sport as a tool for community and individual development. During this training, each participant learned through taking part in activities that they could replicate for youth. These activities taught introspection, emotional exploration, confidence building, teamwork and leadership. Coaches and community workers take these activities back into their communities and use them to design workshops, game days, leagues and tournaments that bring youth together, bridge differences and move them towards being confident individuals better prepared for the challenges life brings.